Professional spa and skincare brand company Wildsmith Skin has created a new wellbeing ideator role, to meet an increasing demand for touchless wellness programming from partner spa operators during pre-opening and beyond.
Esmée Halliday, a former professional dancer and graduate of the Trinity Laban Conservatoire, yoga and meditation practitioner, has become Wildsmith’s wellbeing ideator.
Having worked at The Bothy at Heckfield Place, where Wildsmith’s plant-based therapies originate, Halliday has already created signature movement experiences for the retreat, including an Embodiment class. This experience combines her knowledge of the connection between the breath and the nervous system, developed during yoga and meditation studies in India. The class is designed to help guests process and release tension.
She has also trained in Aufguss sauna ceremony delivery, specifically the traditional Latvian Pirts ritual.
The new role
Now onboard with Wildsmith, Halliday will research and design touchless wellbeing experiences in alignment with the brand’s values, including a commitment to science-backed and nature-inspired wellbeing.
She will work with client properties to shape spa concepts that are operationally and commercially viable. This means Halliday will learn about the territory and local traditions of a spa partner plus its wellbeing philosophy before coming up with a variety of rituals that incorporate movement, nervous system regulation and thermal traditions.
Halliday told Spa Business: “As the pace of the modern spa landscape accelerates, there is often a pull toward experiences that can feel distracting or transient: distracting if they mask stress rather than address it, and transient if they prioritise fleeting trends over the timeless needs of the body. My aim here is to keep the language of the body at the forefront, creating wellbeing experiences that are as thoughtful as they are resonant."
Halliday will provide delivery guidelines and provide onboarding support, both virtually and on-site.
Her work will involve collaboration internally with Wildsmith’s teams dedicated to product development, spa operations and marketing. She will be guided by Wildsmith’s Wellbeing Leadership team, including head of training Kim Cochrane and head of spa and wellbeing development, Jamie Pagan.
Katherine Pye, CEO of Wildsmith, said: “Bringing Esmée into the business strengthens how we support partner properties from day one. Before a spa opens, we work closely with teams to shape a wellbeing offer that’s true to the Wildsmith philosophy, practical to deliver, and designed around what guests actually need. Esmée helps translate our thinking into experiences that can be embedded into the guest journey and delivered on site from opening week.”
Spas already partnered with Wildsmith for touchless wellbeing experiences like these, such as, Mandarin Oriental Vienna in Austria; Costa Navarino in Greece; plus UK partners including the Britannic Explorer, A Belmond Train; and Biome at Corinthia London.
